Drainage Contractor November 2017 : Page 36

BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 LOOKING FOR THE PERFECT DRAIN? Discover our full range of products for efficient drainage at: SOLENO.COM DC_SOLENO_nov16_CSA.indd 1 2016-10-12 “Then, if the farm is sold, the new landowner may be purchasing a farm with a defective drainage system.” But the reason for the Act needs to be clarified to all stakeholders, says Robert Hall, who’s on the board at LICO. Hall says that until a recent meeting where the subject came up, he and some of the younger contractors had always been under the impression that the program existed to protect contractors and make sure there was a standard for the quality of the workmanship. “The contractors talk at the meetings about how the program isn’t protecting them from unlicensed contractors doing work, but the mandate is to protect farmers,” he says. In recent years, there’s been an uptick in farmers purchasing unlicensed tractor-mounted plows that aren’t designed to meet performance standards in order to install their own tile. Turvey says this is creating resentment in the contracting community, for several reasons. First, the equipment isn’t up to snuff: “It’s the difference between a shovel and an excavator,” he says. “This equipment works for random tiling but not real-world systematic drainage.” Second, a growing number of farmers are using the equipment to install tile on their neighbor’s land, and a lack of enforcement means these operators are getting away with breaking the law. Fines are as low as $500 per infraction, says Turvey, but as far as he knows nobody has ever been fined. So far, “there’s no way [for OMAFRA] to convict someone unless they catch them in the act. There aren’t enough people to enforce it and by the time they get to the job site it could be two weeks too late,” he says. Turvey says fines need to be updated so farmers are deterred from purchasing unlicensable machines for doing custom work. But he believes the best way to protect farmers is to close all the loopholes in the law that allow unlicensed operators to install tile on anyone else’s land. “The contractors feel they’ve done everything they should do to get their licenses, but people who aren’t licensed are able to install tile at will,” he says. “They’re doing a disservice to the 8:24 AM farmers by not enforcing the laws.” Cronsberry echoes this. “I think we need to have a licensing system where anybody putting in tile has a license,” he says. “All of the unlicensed pull-behind equipment and installers should be licensed, so that everything is being installed properly. Everybody thinks that just putting tile in the ground means you’ll get good drainage, but there’s a science to it.” DC DON’T MISS THE 60TH ANNUAL LICO CONVENTION, TAKING PLACE JANUARY 22-25, 2018 IN LONDON, ONT. PLUS the 2018 Contractor Courses have been announced. Sign up today at https://bdc.ridgetownc.com: Primary Drainage Course, Jan 8-12 Advanced Drainage Course, Feb 5-15 Agricultural Erosion Control Structures Course, Feb 26-Mar 2 D 36 DRAINAGE CONTRACTOR | NOVEMBER 2017